ALBANY, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- SEMATECH today announced that Cabot Microelectronics Corporation (NAS: CCMP) , the world's leading supplier of chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) polishing slurries and a growing CMP pad supplier to the semiconductor industry, has joined its Front End Processes (FEP) program and will collaborate with SEMATECH to develop advanced solutions for emerging CMP applications.

As semiconductor device sizes shrink, new materials are introduced, and higher yields are targeted. Achieving wafer scale planarity through CMP has become increasingly challenging. These issues are expected to continue to become more challenging in the context of low power technologies.

"SEMATECH is pleased to welcome Cabot Microelectronics as a program member," said Paul Kirsch, SEMATECH's director of Front End Processes. "Cabot Microelectronics' CMP processing solutions will complement our own device and process expertise. We will work together to develop practical, manufacturable solutions to address the emerging needs of advanced transistor technologies."

The goal of SEMATECH's FEP program is to enable novel leading-edge materials, processes, structural modules and electrical and physical characterization methods to support the continued scaling of logic and memory applications.

About CabotMicroelectronics Corporation

Cabot Microelectronics Corporation, headquartered in Aurora, Illinois, is the world's leading supplier of CMP polishing slurries and a growing CMP pad supplier to the semiconductor industry. The company's products play a critical role in the production of advanced semiconductor devices, enabling the manufacture of smaller, faster and more complex devices by its customers. The company's mission is to create value by developing reliable and innovative solutions, through close customer collaboration, that solve today's challenges and help enable tomorrow's technology. Since becoming an independent public company in 2000, the company has grown to approximately 1,050 employees on a global basis. For more information about Cabot Microelectronics Corporation, visit www.cabotcmp.com.

About SEMATECH

For over 25 years, SEMATECH®, the international consortium of leading semiconductor device, equipment, and materials manufacturers, has set global direction, enabled flexible collaboration, and bridged strategic R&D to manufacturing. Through our unwavering commitment to foster collaboration across the nanoelectronics industry, we help our members and partners address critical industry transitions, drive technical consensus, pull research into the industry mainstream, improve manufacturing productivity, and reduce risk and time to market. Information about SEMATECH can be found at www.sematech.org.